Development and validation of biocriteria using benthic macroinvertebratesfor North Carolina estuarine waters

Biological criteria were developed to assess water quality in mesohaline an d polyhaline estuarine waters in North Carolina. The criteria used a combin ation of three metrics: a new 'Hilsenhoff-type' biotic index incorporating the sensitivity to pollution of each taxon and its relative abundance, tota l number of taxa, and number of amphipod and caridean shrimp taxa, Agreemen t with an independent data set was 90%, as was within site repeatability of this biocriteria over a range of water qualities and salinities. The versa tility of the biotic index is discussed relative to other sampling methods and in other parts of the world. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.